[rant]either way I wouldnt count on NASA to get anything done. Thank you for that Obama[/rant]

On topic though, If the costy of the exploration ssytem was spread out over several companies/countries, it may not only help to alleviate the cost burden on any one company but on the overall system. now ISS contruction has proven that this is no small task in and of itself, but doesnt mean that it can't be done better the more we do it.

as for manned/unmanned. the Spirit and Opportunity rovers have traversed 7.73km and 20.25km respectively, over the course of 6 years. Manned exploration can cover the same territory much faster, and possibly more effectively. On the same token, I do feel there is a place for unmanned exploration, as a part of a scouting mission for instance, or in conjunction with a manned mission. One of the big downsides to unmanned exploration as it is is the time delay between here and there, and the lack of ability to maintain the equipment onsite.

lol, sorry, i think i went a bit off topic there,but in the end, the more we do it, the more we go, the cheaper it should be. Instead of building a limited quantity of items at a higher price, we would be building a higher quantity of items at a lower perunit cost than before.All we need is a reason for the companies to do this and to cooperate, and the funding to get it started. (more difficult than this i am sure... but one can hope)